by Shouji Gatou
“You too?!” Seiya demanded.
“On the company tab, of course,” she added.
“Absolutely not!” he fumed.
Seiya ignored them and started walking, while Moffle and Isuzu continued to argue. Jabbering at each other, the three left the “magical platform.”
In the end, they did go to Chinatown, ordered chili shrimp stir-fry and twice-cooked pork, spent hours eating and drinking, and ended up missing the last train and having to wait for the first one of the next day, feeling fully satisfied.
The next morning was stressful, but Seiya ended up quickly finishing all the work he’d been at wits’ end about the day before. Maybe the pick-me-up had worked? The real question was, whether or not the company could afford the dinner they’d had the night before...
Afterword
My decision to write about theme parks has given me a lot more chances to watch Pixar and Disney movies lately.
There are so many amazing movies that feel rude to label “for children.” I finally got to watch Toy Story 3, and I cried at the end like a baby.
Speaking of which, as part of research for AmaBri, I visited the Disney park in Florida, too. Maybe it’s pointless to visit the world’s greatest theme park as part of researching a crummy amusement park on the outskirts of Tokyo, but Fujimi Shobo let me go, so I decided to take up their offer (and take it up partly as a ‘congratulations on finishing FMP’ trip).
In Florida Disney, though, there was a musical based on Finding Nemo. That’s an adventure story about a fish who has to go find his kidnapped only son. I think that, up until then, I’d been under the impression that the title was “Fighting Nemo,” but anyway...
Next to where my editor Mori and I were sitting, there was this brawny, macho white guy. He looked a bit like a veteran with the Marines. I don’t know why, but he was in the theater all by himself, and he was bawling his eyes out while he watched the Nemo musical.
I wonder if he’d had some drama with his own young son, once. “While I was off fighting in Iraq, my son... I’m sorry, my son! Forgive your father!” Is that what he was thinking while he cried?
Well, I’ll never know either way, but it was a very curious sight.
But anyway.
For a big change in subject, one of the reasons I decided to write this series is because I didn’t want to be tied down to “school” stories; I wanted to focus on a different community, for once. In the case of this series, it’s the idea of the workplace. Of course, given the label we write under, school is probably the biggest large community that most of our readers know, but I’ve always wanted to write a story that communicated the idea that even if you end up dropping out of that community, it’s not that big a deal. There are other places out there to find fun and warmth.
The main story of this book, about Shiina, was actually what I was thinking of making the first story in the first volume. A long time ago, I got a part-time job at a place that I hated going to, and I wanted to quit so much... But maybe if you hang in there a little bit, even if you don’t have a convenient talent like Shiina’s, you might still be able to blend in? I thought. Sorry to be pretentious. Anyway, that’s what I was thinking when I was writing it.
Of course, I want to do more about Seiya’s struggles and the larger story, but I also want to portray as many of the lives of the workers as I can.
Thanks to you, volumes one and two of my new series have been a big hit, so I want to get AmaBri media moving as soon as I can!
First, comics! We have a comics series being serialized by Yoshioka Kiyotake, and it’s running in Monthly Dragon Age. They’ve given me a few r names so far, and it’s really fun! I’m looking forward to it!
And... hmm, can I write one more thing? We’re getting an anime adaptation! (Shock!) The production company is... yes, Kyoto Animation! (Double shock!)
...The details are a secret, but I’m sure it’s gonna be a lot of fun. I hope you look forward to it.
Well, goodbye for now. I’ll try to get the fourth volume out as soon as I can.
November 2013, Shouji Gatou
Bonus Food Glossary and Recipes!
This volume of Amagi Brilliant Park concludes with a trip to Yokohama, followed by a meal out in Chinatown. Yokohama Chinatown is a tourist attraction for locals and foreign visitors alike, a place packed to the brim with delicious foods that will satisfy your desire for spice in a country whose cuisine tends toward the mild. The area traces its roots to the mid-19th century, when Japan first opened its borders for trade. Yokohama was one of the first open ports, and China swiftly came calling, establishing a nexus of Chinese culture not far from Tokyo that continues to this day.
In addition to two Sichuan Chinese recipes mentioned at the end of this volume, we’re also sharing a recipe for nikujaga (lit. meat and potatoes), another late 19th century import that has since become a staple food for Japanese families. While it could be thought of as a simple meat and potato stew, it differs from Western preparations in its use of the classic Japanese dashi base (the same dashi-soy-mirin-sugar combination usually seen in udon and soba soups) that is significantly reduced before serving.
Moffle tries to kill Tiramii with an onion-packed nikujaga in this volume as well as shamo chicken tataki with new onions. If you’re wondering what “new onions” are, the term refers to onions that are shipped out immediately after they’re harvested in the spring, rather than undergoing the preservation process that makes onions such a great pantry veggie. Fresh, uncured onions are sweet and tender and delicious both raw or in soups.
As for the chicken tataki itself? Well, seeing as it amounts to eating raw chicken, we’re not going to offer a recipe for that. We’d rather not do to our readers what Moffle was trying to do to Tiramii with the onions, after all.
Do try these great recipes below, though, for a taste of fusion cuisine at its best.
Twice Cooked Pork
Ingredients:
2 lbs pork belly (skin on, and in 1 piece)
12 scallions (ends trimmed and cut into 2" segments)
6 slices of fresh ginger, 1/4" thick
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP finely chopped ginger
2 TBSP finely chopped garlic
3 TBSP cooking oil
1 to 1 1/2 TBSP sichuan chili bean paste (sometimes labeled doubanjiang or tobanjan)
1 TBSP shaoxing wine
1 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP sugar
Instructions:
Place the pork belly, 6 scallions, ginger slices, and salt into a large pot. Add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove pork from the liquid, wrap in tin foil, and refrigerate for 3 hours. Once pork is chilled, cut into thin rectangles, about 1/4" thick each.
In a separate bowl, combine chili bean paste, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside.
Heat oil in wok or skillet. When very hot, add pork and stir fry for 6 to 8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add finely chopped garlic, ginger, and scallions, then stir fry for 2 minutes. Add contents of separate bowl, stirring to coat, and stir fry for another minute.
Serve hot.
Nikujaga (Japanese meat and potatoes)
Ingredients:
1 TBSP cooking oil
6 ounces thinly sliced beef (cut into 2" lengths)
1 white or yellow onion (cut into thick wedges)
2 to 3 carrots (cut into bite size pieces)
6 small potatoes (peeled and quartered)
4 shiitake mushrooms (stems removed and quartered)
10 green beans (boiled and cut in half)
2 TBSP sugar
2 cups dashi
2 TBSP mirin
4 TBSP soy sauce
Instructions:
Warm the oil in a thick-bottomed pot over medium high heat. Add onions and saute for 2 minutes, or until translucent.
Add the meat and cook until it changes color.
Add potatoe
s, carrots, mushrooms, and green beans.
Add the dashi, turn heat to high, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium, skimming any impurities that rise to the surface.
Add sugar, mirin, and soy sauce.
Cover pot, and simmer until the vegetables are softened, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve warm.
Sichuan Chili Shrimp Stir Fry
Ingredients:
1 lb raw shrimp (peeled and deveined)
2 TBSP finely chopped ginger
2 TBSP finely chopped garlic
2 TBSP scallions (diced)
2 TBSP cooking oil
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP corn starch
1 TBSP cooking oil
4 TBSP chili garlic sauce
1 TBSP sugar
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, combine shrimp, soy sauce, and corn starch, stirring until the shrimp is evenly coated. Marinate for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add garlic and ginger, stirring a few times until fragrant.
Add shrimp to wok, working quickly to spread them across the bottom of the pan. Let cook without stirring for 20 to 30 seconds. Stir, being sure to flip the shrimp. Continue cooking for 1 minute.
Add chili garlic sauce and sugar. Stir to coat shrimp evenly. Cook for an additional minute, or until shrimp begin to curl.
Serve hot.
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Copyright
Amagi Brilliant Park: Volume 3
by Shouji Gatou
Translated by Elizabeth Ellis
Edited by Dana Allen
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © Shouji Gatou, Yuka Nakajima 2014
Illustrations by Yuka Nakajima
First published in Japan in 2014 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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